


Impasse

by sad_divinity



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Bad Parenting, Dark Magic, Dark Magic Poisoning, Dark Past, Family Secrets, Gen, Intelligent Original Character, Judgment, Mages, Magic, Magic-Users, Original Mage Association, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overprotective Sans (Undertale), Past Abuse, Past Character Death, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Protective Sans (Undertale), Racism, Rich Original Character, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, Younger Brother Papyrus (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:21:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26244820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sad_divinity/pseuds/sad_divinity
Summary: It's been a little over a year since monsters escaped the Underground, were granted citizenship and welcomed with mostly open arms by the humans.Life couldn’t be better.Until Papyrus becomes friends with a mage.Sans already had trust issues from the Underground, but he definitely didn’t trust mages, even if Papyrus rambles on and on about all the fun times he and his ‘friend’ have.Nothing good can come from mages, Sans learned that when that cursed barrier sealed them underground.Too bad neither of them knew what they were getting themselves into getting acquainted with her, but they soon learn as her past, that she’d spent so long putting behind her, rises from the dead and comes searching for her.What’s happened to her in the past?  And why is it suddenly coming back now, while she’s at the top of her game in life?Story is inspired by poetax!
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Asgore Dreemurr/Toriel
Comments: 17
Kudos: 10





	1. Papyrus Has a New Friend, And Sans Didn't Know Until Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans notices that Papyrus is hanging out a little late and wants to know why. The answer doesn't please him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After months of work, I'm finally ready to post the first chapter of my story! Please give kudos and/or leave comments so I know that you're enjoying it!

To say that Sans cared for his brother was an understatement. 

Sans was the very definition of an overprotective brother. 

He practically raised Papyrus ever since they were both small baby bones and it didn’t help that Papyrus was so obviously nice to every person he met, leading him to be taken advantage of numerous times throughout his life.

Sans cherished that innocence of Papyrus’ sometimes. It reminded Sans that the world wasn’t all bad.

And though Papyrus hadn’t made many friends throughout his life, even after monsters had escaped the Underground, Sans would always be there for his baby bro and Papyrus would always be there for him.

No matter what.

Besides, Sans was a little glad that Papyrus had had a hard time making friends with the humans on the surface. That meant that Papyrus had a less chance of being hurt and Sans wouldn’t have to kill anyone for hurting his bro.

When they’d first escaped the Underground, the first month was absolute hell.

The moment they made it to the surface, not even an hour later, a barrier was summoned around them. No one could leave and no one could come in. 

An official from the government informed them that a mage association, the Magically Blessed Persons Association, he called the MBPA, had called the order and explained that anything to do with magic was dealt with by them accordingly.

The flustered official then attempted to calm the angered monsters, telling them that it wasn’t because monsters were thought to be dangerous, but because of certain dangers that existed outside of the barrier that they were being kept in.

That didn’t make them feel any better, but they couldn’t exactly break the barrier (and it was quite the powerful barrier, Sans had checked), so they had no choice but to take what they were given.

But after that month, they were released, given their rights, and allowed to live out life as they pleased, but all monsters were required to go to an introductory school that taught them how to live life along with humans.

Sans remembered all the humans that tried to befriend him, but he just couldn’t seem to bring himself to open up despite how welcoming all the humans were.

Now, don’t get him wrong, he’ll converse and be open to simple conversations, but when it came to getting to know them and them getting to know him, he just couldn’t do it.

He hadn’t heard many good things about having human friends anyways. From what he’d learned, humans were fickle and some of them don’t even really like the people that they hung out with! They just hung out just because! It was unbelievable to Sans and he definitely didn’t want that happening to him, let alone his baby bro.

And as far as Sans was aware, Papyrus was already surrounded by plenty of good friends like Undyne, Alphys, Toriel, and their only human friend, Frisk.

Sans even guiltily found himself wishing that Papyrus wouldn’t make any human friends.

Too bad most wishes don’t come true.

It had all started 3 months ago, a year after they’d been released from the second barrier.

Papyrus would come home a little late from work, even though he got off 2 hours earlier than Sans, but Sans didn’t question it at first and Papyrus didn’t explain himself.

Then Papyrus would come home even later, by at least an hour, and whenever Sans asked, Papyrus would just say that he lost track of time, deflecting his questions.

“YOU KNOW HOW IT IS, BROTHER!” Papyrus would laugh.

But this month, Sans knew something was up when Papyrus declined their brotherly movie night and told the shorter skeleton that he had other plans after work. 

Sans almost couldn’t believe it, what could Papyrus be doing after work that made him willingly want to skip their bi-weekly, brotherly movie night? Papyrus _loved_ movie night with a burning passion, almost as much as spaghetti.

Sans decided that night, he would confront his brother and ask what was going on.

* * *

Papyrus had agreed to have their movie night Thursday since he’d missed it Wednesday night due to his ‘other plans’. 

Sans sat on his favorite spot on the couch and Papyrus laid across the floor, wearing his favorite flame pajamas with a pillow underneath his chest for comfort. 

They both sat in serene silence, watching the movie play out in front of them. 

Sans’ pupils shifted over to look at Papyrus’ backside. He cleared his throat over the movie and asked the question he’d been aching to ask.

“hey bro, what were ya up to yesterday that made you miss our movie night?”

Papyrus didn’t miss a beat, instantly perking up at the question, “OH, I WAS HANGING OUT WITH MY FRIEND!”

Wait.

Huh?

Friend? What friend?

“... Frisk?” Sans guessed-no-hoped. He hoped Papyrus was talking about Frisk.

“NO, NOT FRISK, MY OTHER FRIEND.”

“Undyne?”

“NO, SANS, THIS IS A FRIEND YOU HAVEN’T MET YET! SHE’S HUMAN!” Papyrus explained simply.

“... you made a _human_ friend?” Sans found himself sitting up straighter. “when was this, Pap?”

“A FEW MONTHS AGO, I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN SHE ACCEPTED MY TOKEN OF FRIENDSHIP WITH EASE! AND SHE LOVES PASTA ALMOST AS MUCH AS I DO!”

Sans ignored how happy his brother was getting and continued his questioning, “that’s nice, bro… where’d you two go?”

“HER HOUSE!” Sans felt his soul crack, “SOMETIMES WE GO TO THE MALL OR THE PARK, BUT WHEN WE’RE AT HER HOUSE, SHE’LL COOK PASTA WITH ME AND WE’LL PLAY VIDEO GAMES! WE ALWAYS HAVE SO MUCH FUN!”

Sans couldn’t believe it.

How had Papyrus managed to stay quiet about his mystery female friend? Why didn’t he question the taller skeleton until now? What if this human friend wasn’t really Papyrus’ friend? 

That scared Sans the most.

The fact that Papyrus’ ‘friend’ could just be playing a cruel joke on him.

Papyrus was such a kind soul, he didn’t deserve to be treated so cruelly.

“wow, that’s pretty cool, Pap.” He choked out.

Papyrus nodded in agreement, “OH YES, BUT THAT’S NOT EVEN THE COOLEST PART!” Papyrus sat up and turned around to face his brother, his eyes beaming like stars, “MY FRIEND IS A MAGIC HUMAN!”

“like the magicians on tv?” Sans really hoped that’s what Papyrus was talking abo-

“NO, YOU LAZY BONES! MY FRIEND IS A MAGE! AND WE SHARE THINGS ABOUT EACH OTHER’S MAGIC ALL THE TIME! IT’S AMAZING HOW POWERFUL MAGIC HUMANS CAN B- SANS? ARE YOU OKAY?”

Sans couldn’t hear anything anymore, his pupils absent as he absorbed the information that Papyrus had just given him. 

Papyrus’ new friend wasn’t only a female human, she was also a _fucking mage_. 

Why does it matter? You ask?

Well...

Mages couldn’t mean anything good, especially if they were trying to befriend monsters and asking them about monster magic. 

After all, mages were the ones that kept the monster underground after the war with that magical barrier.

And during the introductory classes, there was little to none information told about mages. 

The only things that Sans could remember was that about 20% of humans were mages, or ‘magically blessed’, there was an MBPA building, called a guild, located near the center of Ebott City (it was also explained that all 50 states had a guild stationed in their capitals), and the MBPA dealt with all magically charged situations that took place in the US, while being heavily funded by the government. 

The shorter skeleton was quick to regain his composure when he noticed Papyrus beginning to worry, “don’t worry, bro, i was just thinking. but hey, _tibia_ honest, your friend sounds _hip_ ,” He smiled widely as Papyrus groaned, “when can i meet her?”

Papyrus brought a hand to his chin, “HMMM, I’D HAVE TO ASK AND SEE IF SHE’S FREE NEXT WEEK.”

“i can call off any day next week, just tell me.” That wasn’t true, but Sans could sacrifice not showing up. His coworkers would just have to hold through without him.

“OOH! I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU TO MEET HER! I BET THE TWO OF YOU WILL BE GREAT FRIENDS, THOUGH NOT AS GREAT AS WE ARE!”

Oh, they’d be something. 

Sans would make sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like this chapter and wish to see more? Just give kudos and/or comment to let me know that ya'll are enjoying the story and I'll try to post a chapter every week or two! Thanks for taking the time to read and stay safe during these trying times!


	2. Papyrus' BPF (That Stands for Best Pasta Friend, btw)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans finally gets to meet Papyrus' one and only BPF. They're first meeting goes as well as you expected it to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went on ahead and decided to post the chapter early, the next one will be posted on Friday or Saturday!

It was decided that Papyrus would take Sans to meet his new friend on Friday.

The taller skeleton stayed excited the entire week, going on and on about his new friend and telling Sans all about her.

“SHE LOVES LEARNING ABOUT MAGIC AND IS OBSESSED WITH MARVEL MOVIES!” He beamed while washing the dishes from their dinner, “SHE ALWAYS HAS ME WATCH A MARVEL MOVIE WITH HER ON OUR PASTA-MAKING FRIENDSHIP NIGHTS AND HER FAVORITE CHARACTER IS IRON MAN. I HAPPENED TO HAVE TAKEN A LIKING TO THOR, HE WEARS THE MOST FASHIONABLE OF CLOTHING, JUST LIKE ME! NYEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus laughed out.

Sans sunk lower into his favorite spot on the couch, the ketchup beginning to taste sour as he listened to Papyrus’ rambling.

He had never wanted Papyrus to shut up so much in his life, but at least he was learning more about this ‘friend’ of Papyrus’.

“that’s pretty cool, bro. what does your friend usually ask about when you’re both talkin about magic?” He asked from his spot, placing the ketchup on the small table beside him.

Papyrus’ bone brows furrowed, placing a cup on the drying rack, “JUST WHERE OUR MAGIC COMES FROM AND HOW WE SUSTAIN IT. SHE EVEN WRITES IT DOWN IN NOTEBOOKS AND ASKS ME TO READ THEM FOR HER TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS CORRECT! QUITE PUNCTUAL, SHE IS!”

Sans stilled.

Why does she want to know about monster magic so bad? Why’s she writing the information down? Is she planning on giving the information to other people? Was that the only reason she became friends with Papyrus? To use him?

Sans really couldn’t wait to meet her.

He was brimming with ‘excitement’. 

* * *

The day had finally come and Sans stayed relatively quiet as Papyrus hummed to the music from his radio, driving their car through the quiet road.

Papyrus had told Sans earlier that his friend only lived about 15 minutes away from them in a suburban neighborhood and how right he was.

The ride was relatively short and soon they were in a large neighborhood passing by large houses of various styles. 

They weren’t mansions, but Sans did take note on how big they were compared to a regular house. He also noticed that each of the houses were quite far from each other, giving each house a good bit of their own land.

An upper-middle class neighborhood, he would guess.

Papyrus made a sound of declaration, driving into the long driveway of a beautiful two-story contemporary-styled house. 

The house was mostly paned with white wood but the entrance was squared with a grey stoned arch. There were multiple large windows on the house but Sans noticed that you couldn’t see into the house through any of them, all of them being one-way glass. 

Ok, so Papyrus’ friend was well off. Good to know.

The two skeletons walked up to the door, Papyrus pressing the doorbell that Sans realized was a video doorbell. He’d never seen one before, but he knew that plenty of humans used them for security.

Within seconds, the door was opened and Sans was finally introduced to Papyrus’ friend.

Sans wasn’t sure what he was expecting Papyrus’ friend to look like, but this certainly wasn’t how he imagined her.

Vesta had to be one of the most beautiful humans he’d seen so far, like the ones he’d seen in the movies.

Youthful almond brown skin that appeared smooth as butter and beautifully complimented the white, spaghetti-strapped crop top she was wearing.

Her thick, tight-curled hair was a captivating platinum blonde, the sides shaved with a simple design. Her ears and nose were both pierced and Sans also caught sight of the star-shaped belly button piercing sitting perfectly in her navel.

That wasn’t what caught Sans by surprise though.

It was Vesta’s beautiful round eyes that were enchantingly gold in color, holding no pupils and giving her an ethereal appearance. And despite having no pupils, her eyes still seemed to bare right into Sans’ soul, reading every little thing about himself that even he didn’t know.

He'd never seen another human with eyes like her.

Was it a genetic trait unique to only mages?

“SANS, THIS IS MY FRIEND, VESTA! VESTA, THIS IS MY BROTHER, SANS!” Papyrus introduced.

Vesta smiled, showing off her pearly white teeth framed by naturally plump lips, “Nice to meet you, Sans. Come in, I know y'all a little hot from this summer heat.” Her voice was modulated with a slight drawl that Sans resentfully found himself liking, but he wouldn’t let himself be swayed.

Walking into the house, Vesta led them into her living room, easing down on the grey chaise of her sectional sofa. 

She tugged on her olive green leggings and waited for Papyrus and Sans to get comfortable, “So… Papyrus has told me a good bit about you, I bet you’ve heard a good bit about me.” She guessed, elbow resting on her knee. 

“yeah, i heard quite a bit.” _Too much if you ask me_. Sans kept his smile lax.

“That’s good, that’s good,” she hummed merrily.

“yup.” It really wasn’t.

He hated how chill she was just sitting there with her legs crossed, acting like everything was just dandy while he was internally fuming at the thought of his brother being used for her own entertainment/advantage.

Papyrus, unlike his brother, was happier than ever. His good friend was getting along so well with his brother! It was everything he could’ve ever hoped for. 

“VESTA, DO YOU STILL HAVE ANY MORE OF THOSE POCKY STICKS?” 

“Yeah, they’re in the pantry, you’ll have to search in there. They should be on one of the shelves.” 

The taller skeleton popped up from his seat, stating that he’d be back in a moment as he strolled to the kitchen to retrieve his chocolate covered snack.

 _perfect_ , Sans was finally alone with Vesta. _time to let her know what’s up._

“Pap told me you guys met a few months ago?” 

Vesta nodded, not seeming to read the atmosphere; or she was just ignoring it.

Sans didn’t really care, she’d read the room in a moment.

“where’d you guys meet?” 

Vesta’s eyes shifted upwards towards the ceiling, her lips pursed in thought, “At a grocery store. I’d dropped a bunch of tomato sauce jars, he saw me, and helped me tell one of the employees. We just kinda hit it off right then and there.” 

She smiled at the memory, remembering how embarrassed she was that she’d made a mess. She made up for it by paying for the jars and tipping the employees that cleaned up the spilled tomato sauce.

“you like hanging out with Pap?” 

“Oh yeess-" Her smile grew wider as she spoke- "I enjoy my time with Papyrus. He’s funny, he can somewhat cook pasta, and he’s quite educated as well,” she complimented. “Plus, we have a couple of things in common that we like. Which is something you should look for in friends, but you get what I'm saying."

“sure. but-” The white pricks in his eyes went absent, his gaze dark and the tension growing even thicker than before, -”what’s the real reason you became friends with my bro?” 

Eyes crinkling, Vesta sat up straight, “What’re you talking about?” 

What was with the change in atmosphere? Had she already done something wrong to set him off? She was genuinely confused at how quickly the skeleton turned against her.

Sans ignored her question, “i’m just lookin out for my bro, because _tibia_ honest i don’t feel very comfortable with my brother hanging out with _mage_.”

Wow.

So, that was the big problem.

“And?” Vesta challenged, shoulders shrugging.

“ _and_ ,” The shorter skeleton bit out, “he told me about your curiosity towards monster magic. he also told me about how you’re working on a book about monster magic.” His eye glowed blue and Vesta felt a slight chill run down her spine, “listen here, lady, i wasn’t _bone_ yesterday, monsters and mages haven’t had a very good past, so i feel that you’re using my bro to learn more-”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Sans,” Vesta was standing now, towering over the shorter skeleton where he sat, “I don’t appreciate you coming into _my_ house and accusing me of being a bad person just because I’m a mage.” 

Her golden eyes glared into Sans’ empty sockets coldly, “I know that mages and monsters had it out for each other, but that was over 700 years ago. Times have changed and you should get to know a person before you judge them like you’re so ignorantly doing right now. I thought that you, as a monster, would know better.”

Sans went to speak, offended that she would even dare to talk over him while he was trying to help his bro out, but she beat him to it.

Hand placed over her chest, she continued, “I befriended Papyrus because I wanted to. I ask him about monster magic because I’m interested in different types of magic and feel that the mage community should be aware of such information. I don’t plan on using the info for ill intentions.”

And it wasn’t like she could anyways. 

Monsters had plenty of protection laws placed on behalf of all monsters the last couple of months. Laws that she, _herself_ , signed to be passed with her other co-workers and advisors, but Sans didn’t need to know all of that. He'd probably find some way to use that against her too.

Sans didn’t say another word and Vesta took the silent moment to sit back down.

“You’ve got quite the nerve and I suggest that you _not_ come into my home again and accuse me of using people. Not that it's your business anyways.” Taking the skeleton’s silence as compliance, she began to lean back into the sofa until she felt an invisible force trying to grab at something in her chest.

Sans’ hand was outstretched and glowing, his eye glowing bright blue again.

She was pushed back into the couch, her head snapping back at the sudden jolt as the invisible force tried to grab her again. 

Vesta grunted at the foreign pull and summoned her magic, letting it swim into her chest and repelling whatever force was trying to grab her. She could only hope that that was enough force to stop whatever Sans was doing, because this had to be one of the strangest feelings she's ever experienced by far.

It seemed that her efforts worked because whatever force Sans had there disappeared, slipping away from Vesta immediately.

 _What the_ **_fuck_ ** _was that?_ Vesta panted hard, she could feel the sweat on her forehead as she stared at Sans with wide eyes, unbelieving. _Did-... Did that fucker just try to grab my soul? Can monsters do that? Or is Sans just an exception?_

Sans was staring right back at her with the same expression, looking between his outstretched hand and Vesta’s crumpled form on her sofa.

That had to be one of the slipperiest souls that Sans had ever tried to grab. He couldn’t even get a good grip!

“You- fucker!” The mage growled out between pants, using everything in her will to not kick the confused skeleton out. She didn’t want to upset Papyrus, but the anger she was feeling was unlike any other.

I mean, how dare he come into her home, accuse her of being a bad person just because she was a mage and then attack her?!

Sans leaned back a bit, he wasn’t expecting such a pretty face to become so scary in a matter of seconds. It was unnerving how quickly she got mad at him. She wasn’t even scared that he just attempted to look into her soul.

But… on the other hand, if she got that upset that he tried to look into her soul… she _had_ to be hiding something, right? Something that she didn’t want Sans to see.

Taking her time to cool down, Vesta straightened and narrowed her eyes at Sans, wishing that she could wipe that shit-eating smile off his face. She’d guessed that Sans was a bit protective from what Papyrus told her, but she wasn’t expecting him to be so untrustworthy. 

And she definitely wasn’t expecting him to harbor such hard feelings against mages. 

She could understand somewhat, mages and humans used to not have a good relationship either. 

Especially after the War of Humans and Monsters.

For about 400 years, mages were mistreated by humans, both used and hated for their magic. Humans used them because they were useful, but hated and feared them because they were powerful. 

That attitude changed, thankfully, when a certain creature that could only be defeated by magic popped up around the world, attacking anything with magic or life energy.

But as much as she wanted to inflict extreme violence on Sans, she had to remind herself that this wasn’t just any skeleton. This was Papyrus’ older brother and she couldn’t hurt her good friend’s brother; even if he was being an asshole.

“Listen well, _Sans_ , it’s fine if you don’t like me. I don’t really care. But we’re going to play nice for your brother, since I know you care for him so much. Just know that as of right now, I don’t trust you either. Capisce?”

Sans shrugged, “sure, lady.” He didn’t really seem bothered by her anger anymore, it was a little hard for Vesta to tell with that everlasting smile on his face.

If anything, he seemed to be glad that she was upset.

“UNFORTUNATELY-” Papyrus came into the room, “I FAILED TO FIND THE POCKY STI-” He glanced between the two of them, taking notice of the ever-so-thick tension between them, “WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING? AND, VESTA, WHY ARE YOU KIND OF SWEATY?”

Vesta glanced at the taller skeleton and smiled.

“We were just having a staring competition, it got pretty intense, but we came to a conclusion. Right, Sans?”

Wow, if Sans didn’t hate this bitch he would’ve laughed at her quick excuse.

“yeah, bro, it was just a staring contest that got-” His smile widened mischievously, “ _bone_ out of proportion.” 

Papyrus’ groans only helped his smile grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this, please feel free to leave kudos and/or comments! If you've got any questions, I'll answer them as quickly as possible! Have a good day and stay safe during these trying times!


	3. A Souvenir From the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vesta has a talk with her cousin about Sans and the documents that she was asked to bring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love! Here's the next chapter with a hint of Vesta's past sneaking up on her! Sorry that this one is so short!

“We weren’t even in the same room for more than 10 minutes and then he attacked me!” Vesta growled out to her cousin, pouring freshly done coffee into a pair of black mugs.

“Girl, no,” Her cousin, Paris, gasped.

“Girl, yes,” Vesta repeated, going to her fridge to grab the creamer, “And then he had the nerve to accuse me of using his brother just to learn about monster magic. Uggh!” She walked over to the morning nook, joining her cousin, and passed her a cup of coffee.

Paris took the mug, pouring a small dollop of creamer into her black coffee as she shook her head, light brown coils moving with her, “The nerve of that guy. Girl, did you kick him out? Tell me you did!”

“No, Paris, I didn’t.” Vesta sighed deeply at the memory. “I wanted to though.” The heated mage grumbled, grabbing the creamer and pouring half the bottle into her mug. 

Paris hummed in understanding, sipping at her coffee and looking out the window into the backyard, “Sooo… do you think that you being a mage had somethi-”

“Yes, me being a mage was part of the problem,” Vesta slumped in her seat, “I really like Papyrus, Paris.”

Her cousin hummed again, “I know you do, girl, but you can’t let Sans get between your friendship. Sans is just going to have to accept you for you and if he keeps giving you problems, you might want to go to Papyrus and tell him what’s going on.” She took another sip of her coffee, her eyes fluttering closed, “You should’ve told him after Sans attacked you.”

“I know,” Vesta huffed, resting her face on her hand tiredly, “But I felt that Sans and I had come to a mutual agreement to play nice for Papyrus, so we’re ok.” 

Vesta enjoyed the rest of her morning with Paris, the both of them just staring into her large backyard and talking about the mundane things going on in their lives.

Once the both of them finished their coffee, Paris stood from her seat and pulled out a thick stack of papers in a manila folder from her bag. She dropped the stack onto Vesta’s table, the thick stack smacking against the surface, and slipped her bag onto her shoulder.

“There’s the papers you wanted, I didn’t read them like you asked…” Paris trailed off, eyeing the stack darkly, “… but… can I ask what’s on them?”

Vesta fixed her gaze into Paris’, eerily silent.

Paris couldn’t help but look away from her older cousin’s stare, she’d only seen her look that way one time in her life… she didn’t want to think about those times right now, but she needed to make sure.

She turned back to look at Vesta. “Those… those papers aren’t connected to your parents, are they?” She finally asked, her tone worried.

“And what if they are?” Vesta’s cold gaze didn’t change, her gold eyes shifting back to the papers.

Paris’ eyes crinkled, “Vesta…” She closed her eyes, trying to calm her mind, “Be careful… please.” She hated that her voice cracked with her silent plea, but she could only pray that Vesta would take her advice.

She was there for Vesta when everything went to shit, after all.

And with that warning, Paris took her leave.

Grabbing the papers from their spot on the table, Vesta hastily made her way to her office and placed the papers on her desk.

 _I shouldn't... but it won't hurt to try..._ She couldn't tear herself away from the papers, staring at them intently while she fought with herself. 

The brave part of her said to check, but the anxious, scared part of her said to just lock the papers away until she could find someone to help her with the situation.

_But you should still check, just in case._

_Yeah, what if he is alive? That could mean more problems in the future._

Her legs felt like jello beneath her and Vesta steadied herself on her desk, the nausea beginning to sneak up on her.

_That doesn't matter, these papers don't mean anything good. Lock them away and only read them once you have someone else with you. Someone you trust._

_You're strong, one look won't hurt you._

_It'll only make your anxiety worse, knowing can hurt you._

_C'mon, it's just one look, what're you scared of?_

_Your scared of history repeating itself._

_Your history, to be precise._

_But I don't blame you._

_Yeah, it wasn't your fault... it's just_ _too bad you didn't do anything until it was too late, though._

Vesta shook the thoughts from her head, scrunching her hands through her kinky blonde hair to scratch at her scalp. She stared up at her ceiling for just one moment.

Letting out a frustrated cry, she grabbed a hold of the bookshelf behind her and shoved it out of the way, revealing a small safe in the wall.

She typed in the code to open it and stuffed the papers inside.

She slammed the safe door closed and pushed the bookshelf back where it was.

With one last glance at the bookshelf, she sighed and closed the door that hid her demons.

‘ _Another time._ ’ 

_________________________________________________________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wish for more? Let me know you're interested by giving kudos and/or leaving a comment! Ask me anything you have questions about and I'll be sure to answer as quick as possible! Thanks for reading and stay safe during these trying times!


	4. Magically Blessed Persons Association

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vesta is called to work by one of her co-workers and told some interesting news, which leads her on a new chapter of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even if that many people haven't been reading this, I still appreciate the few people that are enjoying the story! So don't worry, I don't plan on stopping this story anytime soon, I worked too hard to do that. 
> 
> But here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

The Association was busy as always. 

Mages of all ranks hustling and bustling through the grand white halls, some holding papers and others balancing stacks of thick books in their arms or walking in various groups, talking formally about magic-related subjects.

Vesta greeted the doormen as she always did, giving them her million dollar smile as they too greeted her accordingly.

“Good morning, Archmage Highmore.” Both the doormen’s voices were deep and professional as they addressed the smiling mage.

“Good morning, doormen that I still don’t know the names of!” Vesta saluted to them, walking through the open doors. 

That sarcastic statement rang true. Vesta had been working at the establishment for more than 3 years and she still didn’t know the names of the two doormen, despite them greeting each other every single morning.

She could feel the shift in the atmosphere as soon as she walked into the building, admiring the busyness that was ever-present whenever she arrived. An atmosphere that she learned to love and used to escape her life from time to time.

Strolling through the reflective, white-walled foyer, she headed straight to the upscale, black-marbled staircase. 

She passed her glass office, wishing that she could’ve been in there buried in her books and lost in her studies, but she’d been called for a different reason today.

Every year, in the month of April, magically blessed children were recruited into the Magically Blessed Persons Association, a government-funded association run by mages that dealt with all magic related situations in the world.

In these recruitments, the children were always given their rank insignias on the back of their right hand and their Stage, a measurement of their magic power.

Apparently, there was a prodigy amongst the 120 children who was the only one to have their Stage measured as a 5, which was an exceptionally high number for a child just now coming into the Association without any magic training beforehand.

So, why was she called in? 

Vesta was still trying to figure that out herself.

Coming up to another glass office at the end of the long hallway, Vesta noticed two familiar sets of eyes staring back at her as she let herself in and closed the door behind her, the various noises from the outside being effectively muffled and keeping the office quiet.

“Good morning, Isbobel, Erik.” She greeted professionally, bowing her head in respect.

The blonde-haired woman, Isobel, frowned, her few wrinkled crinkling up even more as she scoffed lightly, “I would like to be called by my official title, Highmore.”

Isobel was the oldest of the three, somewhere in her mid-40s if Vesta were to guess. She was the Head Archmage of Ebott City, sitting above two other Archmages who were now retired, before Vesta and Erik came into the picture.

And boy was it obvious that there was some resentment that Isobel held against Vesta for taking her spot of Head Archmage.

“My apologies, Archmage Latimer.” Vesta bowed once again with a roll of her eyes, before she turned her attention to Erik.

Erik Angelsin was a fine specimen of a man, as Vesta had described him to Paris. 

With his chocolate-toned skin that held little imperfection, gentle brown eyes framed by round glasses, and that athletic build of his. All that combined with that modern shaved sides cut of his coupled with those luxurious dreadlocks tied back in that beautiful, messy bun of his and the way he presented himself.

Yeah, he was definitely a sight for sore eyes.

Not only did the man have good looks, but he came from a rich and powerful family to top it all off; one of the three founding families of the MBPA, to be exact, just like Vesta.

He was easily one of the most sought after men in the mage community of Ebott City, both for his power and his looks.

They’d both known each other from a relatively young age, forming a friendship while they went to school together. Throughout the few years Vesta was in school, they helped each other study magic and soon became good friends.

And after Erik and Vesta graduated, they helped each other soar through the rankings and soon became not only close friends, but two of the three Archmages in Ebott City.

“Vesta, just in time, as always. I bet you’re wondering why I called you?” Erik’s voice held such boldness to it, Vesta always found herself compelled to listen to every word he had to say.

“Yes, I hope it's not a serious matter?” 

“No, no. No bad news.” He comforted, before explaining, “You were watching TV the day monsters were given their citizenship, correct?”

Vesta nodded. 

Who wasn’t watching TV that day? Monsters escaping the underground after more than 500 years was one of the biggest historical events in today’s time, of course she was watching on TV.

What’d that have to do with the prodigy child, though?

“The child that was made one of the representatives for monsters was the one who scored a 5.”

Vesta blinked, her eyes widening. 

So, that child was a mage? That would be able to explain how the monsters were able to break the barrier. 

“But, the reason we called you is because of the child’s magic type.” Vesta squinted, “It’s time magic.” Erik finished.

Isobel huffed, “Yes, of all magic types, it was _time_.” She drawled out the word as if it were venom. “And I was looking for a young, talented protege to take under my wing.”

Vesta shook her head, “Isobel, there are so many talented children here, you shouldn’t just look for prodigies or children that are above average. All the children hear hold some kind of potential, you just have to look and stop being so picky.”

“As if I’d take advice from you.” Isobel sneered. “And it’s _Latimer_.”

“You should, seeing as you’re the one that wants a protege so bad, _Latimer_.” 

So whiny for success yet she ignores all the good things in front of her. One of the main reasons why Vesta didn’t like Latimer.

Vesta turned her attention away from the sulking Archmage and back to Erik, “So… you’re hoping that I’ll become the child’s teacher?” She kind of hoped that wasn’t what he was asking. She wasn’t really the teaching type, she was a scholar, one that studied rare and not well-known magic types.

Erik shrugged, his dreads grazing his shoulders, “You’re one of the only mages in the Ebott area that’s done research on time magic. You’re the most qualified to be this kid’s mentor… and I’d rather not try to find someone outside the Ebott area.”

It would take Erik far too long to find a capable teacher that was within a reasonable distance away from Ebott, especially one that knew about time magic.

Vesta’s face must’ve said it all because Erik switched up his tactics, “And this would be the perfect opportunity for you to learn even more about time magic, seeing as there’s so little information on that rare magic type. You may even get enough new information to publish numerous articles and whatnot, hmmm?”

He smirked as he watched his golden-eyed friend struggle internally at his words before she let out a long groan.

“I have no choice but to say yes when you put it like that, Erik…” Vesta whined, scratching at her scalp with pursed lips, “Curse you for knowing me so well!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll send you the address so that you can go and visit the parents and explain what events will take place in the future. They’re expecting you tomorrow.”

* * *

Vesta pulled up into the small driveway, turning off her car and admiring the cozy-looking home in front of her.

A large, grey-paned house that was two stories high with accents of white around the windows and brown door, with a short set of long, brown-wooden stairs that led to both the entrance and the porch that held two sizable, cushioned chairs with a smaller, round table in between.

Climbing up the steps and to the tall door, Vesta rang on the doorbell, hearing the tune echo from inside the house as she waited.

Within seconds, the door was opened and Vesta found herself shaken as she came face-to-face with a massive goat monster wearing a purple-polka dot dress with a lighter purple dress jacket and purple-framed glasses to match.

 _This must be Toriel… She must love the color purple_ , Vesta thought to herself, she could never pull off the color purple as this monster could, _It really fits her though._

Giving a warm smile, Toriel spoke, “Ah, you must be Frisk’s teacher?” Her voice was gentle and motherly.

Vesta smiled back, getting over her initial shock, “Yes ma’am-” She put her right hand on her chest, bowing her head slightly, “Archmage Vesta Highmore.”

“Toriel Dreemur, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” She stepped to the side, holding the door open wider, “Please, come in, Frisk is so excited to meet you.”

The archmage made her way into the house, admiring the cozy interior as she and Toriel made their way to the kitchen where another goat monster’s purple-collared back faced them, standing at what Vesta believed to be the stove.

“Asgore, dear,” Toriel called softly, “Ms. Highmore is here.”

The goat monster, Asgore, whipped around. His eyes immediately landing on Vesta, he gave her a welcoming smile.

“Ah, Ms. Highmore, welcome. Would you like some buttercup tea?” He moved over slightly to show the steaming red kettle on the stove, “It’s quite delicious.”

Vesta declined after a moment of eyeing the kettle before she was invited to sit down at their kitchen nook.

“So, you’re going to be Frisk’s private teacher?” Toriel started with a questionable squint. 

Asgore hummed around the rim of his tea cup at the question, also wanting to know the question.

“Yes ma’am. I’m one of the only mages in the area that knows of your child’s magic type. Unfortunately, not much is known about time magic due to the low amount of users, but I’ll help your child as best as I can with the knowledge that I do have.” Vesta promised, hand over her heart.

The couple hummed, satisfied before continuing with their questions.

“An official at the recruitment explained to us that Frisk scoring a 5 was a level that was usually associated with ‘Greaters’, can you explain that to us?” Asgore asked.

Once she was given her needed supplies, Vesta began to draw a triangle to the left of the sheet, drawing lines inside the shape and numbering each of the rows 9 to 0 from the bottom to the top.

“This is called the Stage Triangle,” She established, “It’s used within the mage community to measure your ‘Stage’, which is your magic power. Each of these numbers represents an estimate of one’s magic power” She tapped at the lowest column of the triangle, where she had drawn the number 9, “The higher the number, the lower your power is. 9 is the lowest your power can be and is usually the Stage that most children score when they first get recruited into the Association.” Vesta glanced from her drawing to the Dreemurs, “Does that make sense, so far?”

They both nodded, studying the drawing with curious eyes.

“Now, for the ranking system, there are 6 ranks.” Vesta listed the ranks off using her fingers, “Going from lowest rank to highest, there’s Novice, Apprentice, Greater, Major, Master, and then Arch.”

“Do the ranks correlate with your Stage?” Toriel was quick to ask.

“No, even though your child’s Stage is a 5, they are not going to be ranked as a Greater, they are still a Novice.” Vesta answered honestly. “And with their ranks, they get magical insignias on the back of their right hands that appear invisible until the user’s magic is used, which will cause their insignia to glow.” 

The mage lifted her hand, showing the glowing insignia on the back of her hand; a diamond shape with another smaller diamond inside that had a small dot encased within the middle of it.

“This is the insignia of an Arch, the highest rank,” She let her hand rest back on the table, “Your child, Frisk, should have an insignia that looks like a triangle with the sides curved slightly inwards, correct?”

Another nod came from the pair before Asgore spoke up.

“If your magic type isn’t the same as Frisk’s and there are barely any mages that have, or know about, time magic, what are you going to be teaching them?” 

A good question that Vesta didn’t have the full answer to.

“Though I am ill-equipped to teach Frisk about time magic in-full, there are still basic things that I can teach to Frisk. I promise you that this will be a good use of Frisk’s time and that I can teach them more about time magic than you think.” 

Vesta clasped her hands together with a final sigh, “On the subject of what I’ll be teaching Frisk, I’d like for them to be here for that part.” 

This way, she’d be able to meet her first student and get their learning schedule made up.

Toriel left the room momentarily, coming back with her one and only student. 

A brown-haired child with fringed bangs and a blank expression on their face, wearing a lightweight blue, sweatshirt with two pinkish-purple stripes, black shorts with leggings, and a pair of simple slip-on black boots.

Vesta couldn’t tell if they were a boy or girl, but went on to greet the child as she usually did. 

With her hand on her chest, she bowed her head down at Frisk, her smile growing with her elation.

She wasn’t excited about the teaching part, but this would be quite the learning experience for not only Frisk, but herself as well!

If Frisk had a 5 in magic power with a rare magic type, there was no way either of them were coming out empty-handed. 

Man, was she glad that Erik asked her first before trying to find someone else.

“It’s very nice to meet you Frisk. I’m Vesta Highmore and, as I’m sure you’ve heard, I’m going to be your private teacher.”

A kind smile came to Frisk’s face, “Nice to meet you, too!” They began to buzz with enthusiasm, their hands balled into shaking fists, “I can’t wait to learn more about magic!”

_How cute._

Vesta could remember when she was their age, brimming with excitement when she was given her private teachers after she’d learned her Stage and magic type.

Everything went downhill after that, funny enough.

If only she’d never been as talented as she was, the events that followed after never would’ve happened. She felt foolish for not realizing what was happening right before her. But… she was only a child then, a puppet for her parents to use to their wishes while she blindly allowed the strings to drag her wherever they took her.

She just wished she hadn’t taken so long to realize.

Vesta gave a quick rundown of the schedule for next week and saw her way out, giving the Dreemur family her personal phone number before she left for good.

She sat in her car and looked down at her hands.

They were shaking.

 _Great job, Vesta, you got yourself worked up again. The past is in the past,_ she reminded herself to steady her hands, her heart was beating painfully loud in her throat. _Look at the present, just look at the present._

She hated that about herself.

How every little thing in life could have her reliving certain memories of her childhood that she didn’t wish to remember.

But that came with years of emotional trauma, she reminded herself over and over again.

She took a deep breath in through her nose and breathed out from her mouth as she pulled into her neighborhood. 

_Maybe I should invite Papyrus over again? Have another magic-learning session over pasta… Or just watch some Marvel?_ Vesta found herself shaking her head with a smile as she thought about the tall skeleton and how, despite having no human eyes, his eyes sparkled whenever he and Vesta learned about each other’s magic.

It reminded her of a certain someone from when she was younger.

Pulling into her driveway, Vesta walked up the grey stone walkway, deciding that she would invite Papyrus over again, it would be a while before she could hang with him again with her new schedule after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've enjoyed this story so far, please leave kudos and/or comments! And make sure to stay safe during these trying times!


	5. First Week of Lessons, Secret Meetings, and Being a Boss (Not in that Order)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vesta makes sure that Archmage Latimer knows that she's her boss, Latimer converses with a mysterious man after skipping work, and Frisk has his first day of lessons with Vesta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I let this chapter out a little late, but this is definitely longer than the other chapters so far and I'm going to try and keep them this long (no promises though).

It was ‘Super Saturday’ as Papyrus liked to call it, where the tall skeleton would come over to Vesta’s and they’d watch one Marvel movie after they cooked pasta together. It had become a ritualistic kind of thing with their friendship.

Sans wasn’t present this time, Papyrus had explained that he had to go to work, but Vesta didn’t mind his absence.

He wasn’t exactly kind when they’d first met from what she remembered.

She walked from out of the kitchen, juice glass in one hand and a bowl of popcorn in the other. 

Once she was seated comfortably at her couch, she grabbed her remote and searched for the awaited movie.

“Alright, this next movie here is one of my favorites,” Vesta clicked on the selected movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, taking a sip of the juice in her cup.

“I THOUGHT IRON MAN WAS YOUR FAVORITE MARVEL MOVIE?” Papyrus questioned, laid across the floor on Vesta’s black rug, a pillow underneath his chin bone to keep him comfortable.

“You can have more than one favorite thing, Papy-” She popped some popcorn into her mouth, continuing to talk, “And Iron Man isn’t my favorite movie- he’s my favorite _character_. Within the Avengers group, that is.”

“QUIET HUMAN, THE MOVIE IS STARTING! AND DON’T TALK WITH FOOD IN YOUR MOUTH!” He added quickly after.

They quickly went quiet, watching the movie. They laughed every once in a while, enjoying the action sequences and commenting on certain parts.

It was at times like this that Vesta was glad Papyrus took a liking to Marvel. She’d have to get back in touch with Erik so that they could all watch together and be Marvel geeks.

Like how they did before they became Archmages.

They would watch all kinds of action movies together after school at her Aunt Sirena’s house and go to the movies, sneaking in all kinds of snacks and drinks.

Now both he and Vesta were kept busy at the Association most of the time. But she knew she’d be able to find some free time for the both of them.

Their friendship hadn’t dwindled any, thankfully, but Vesta did miss hanging out with Erik.

Almost as if Vesta was speaking of the devil, her phone began to vibrate rhythmically.

She peered over at her screen and quickly paused the movie, Papyrus letting out a small whine that she ignored.

“Erik?”

“You’re supposed to say ‘Hello?’” He joked, but he sounded drained, “Look-” His voice went serious in a matter of seconds, “We received another amendment draft regarding monsters.”

Vesta slumped against her couch, staring at her ceiling with a silent prayer, “They’re working us to the fucking bone, ain’t they? What the hell do they want now? Monsters already have citizenship and protection like everyone else. What else is missing?”

God, she really didn’t want to sign more documents and hold more meetings with other higher-ups in the mage community. Hopefully, the draft wasn’t anything serious. That way, she could just make the decision on her own.

Whenever she had to attend a meeting, the ever-present judgement and/or pity never ceased to suffocate her with its ignorant stench. 

And it killed her that she had no choice but to sit there and smile through the pain, remaining professional despite wanting to scream at every person in the room that dared to stare at her as if she was an undeserving ‘fuck-up’ or victim.

As if she didn’t work just as hard as everyone else to get where she got.

“It’s about citizenship and monsters’ relationship with the MBPA.” Vesta could practically see Erik rubbing his baggy eyes. “They want us to think about adding monsters into the MBPA as magic citizens. What do you think?”

Vesta let out a long sigh and shrugged, “I mean, I don’t see why not. Monsters are basically magically blessed beings…” She paused, groaning into the phone, “I just don’t want to hold another meeting!” she whined, “Or do all that paperwork!”

“I know, me neither. I’ve got to call Latimer after I’m done with you.”

Vesta sat up, “She’s not there?” She hummed, finger resting on her lip when Erik explained that she hadn’t showed up for work at all today. “Shit, I hope the wicked witch isn’t dead.” Laughter bubbled into her ears as she covered her smile, her shoulders shaking.

“VESTA!” Papyrus scolded.

“Do- don’t joke about her like that!”

“You’re literally laughing, Erik. You know with that attitude of hers, she might as well be a witch.”

More laughter rang from the phone before Erik calmed himself down, “Alright, I’ll leave you alone and call Isobel.”

Vesta straightened from her lax position. “No, no! I’ll call her. Go on ahead and get some sleep. I’ll send out the emails in the morning, just send me the amendment draft. You’ve been working so hard lately, you deserve some sleep.”

“Can I have the day off tomorrow too?”

“Of course, _Isobel_ will gladly take your place tomorrow. We don’t have three Archmages per Association building for no reason.”

With a quick goodbye, Vesta threw the remote to Papyrus, “Pap, I’ve got to call someone real quick, you can keep watching while I go into the other room.”

“BUT I WANTED TO WATCH WITH YOU! THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT!” He whined to her retreated figure, “WHAT IF I HAVE A QUESTION?” He called out, arms out in question.

“Google it!” Vesta answered back.

She shut the door to her office and turned on her PC, the screen glowing softly and showcasing its logo as it began to start up.

Taking a deep breath, she clicked on Isobel’s contact number and waited patiently as the phone rang.

There was a click and then a voice, “What?” Isobel sounded bitter as ever.

“Would you care to explain why you weren’t at work today?” Vesta got straight to the point, not letting Isobel’s attitude get to her. 

As she typed in the password, she heard a scoff come from the other phone and raised an eyebrow. It would appear the Isobel didn’t appreciate Vesta calling her.

“I don’t need you in _my_ business, Highmore. And, besides, I’m busy right now.”

Vesta tapped her chin as she leaned back in her office chair, “Oh, you wish for _another_ strike? That’ll make this you’re second strike, Archmage Latimer, but I’ll send the emai-”

“I was looking for a protege, since you have to know.” She growled.

“Yes, Archmage Latimer, I do. I know you don’t like me much, but you have to remember that as the Head Archmage, I am your boss.” She opened up her email, beginning to read the text in the amendment draft, “There should never be one Archmage at the building and you were supposed to be there. With _Erik_.”

“If you knew he was there alone, why didn’t you go to him?” Isobel snapped, Vesta imagined that the older mage’s face was curled in anger, cheeks red.

“You will be back in for work tomorrow, if you aren’t, I’ll have to look for another Archmage.” She highlighted certain parts of the document, taking note of important sentences, “And trust me, there are plenty of people both willing and more capable of taking your place and doing a better job.” She threatened.

She understood that Isobel didn’t like her because she took her job as Head Archmage, even though Vesta’s record was tainted, but why did she have to make everything so difficult?

Did she not realize how easily Vesta could find someone else to take her job?

“I need tomorrow off, though!” Isobel grumbled, her voice shaking.

Vesta only shrugged, “Sorry, but you’ve already taken the maximum number of days off for the month. You can’t take any more days off unless you become ill or something urgent comes up.” 

The line went silent and Vesta smirked when she heard the older woman begin to sputter, either trying to come up with some excuse or trying to figure out how Vesta knew about all the other 5 days that she’d taken off without calling in.

“I should report you, seeing as you decided to not tell me any of those times either and just decided to call my superior instead…” Vesta sighed, leaning back into her chair once again, “But I’ll let it slide. If this happens again and you don’t call _me_ with a _real_ excuse, don’t come back to work. Thank you, and goodbye.”

She clicked the red end call button just as Isobel began to respond and shook her head to herself.

As much as she wanted to fire, Latimer, she would need to do a good bit of paperwork and now just wouldn’t be the best time. With her becoming a teacher and now this monster citizenship thing coming up, Vesta could only hope that Latimer would take her threat seriously and behave for a while.

“VESTA!” Papyrus cried out.

“Coming!”

* * *

“God dammit!” Isobel spat, throwing her fist down.

Her breathing grew hard and she turned to the masked figure studying her silently, her phone gripped so fiercely in her hand, her knuckles were turning white.

Of course, Highmore wasn’t going to give her any more days off. 

And _of course_ , Highmore would find out that she’d been calling her superior about her absences.

Continuing to curse under her breath, she tore her gaze away and paced the black-walled room for a moment, attempting to regain her composure.

No need to make this man think she was unstable, now. She needed to show that she was somewhat trustworthy, otherwise, she’d be turned down and he’d find someone else.

And she definitely couldn’t have that.

“I apologize for that.” She started after a deep breath and slid back into her chair, staring darkly at her reflection from the reflective surface of the table, “Highmore can prove to be… challenging to talk to at times.” 

“So I’ve heard.” The man’s deep voice was curt with that statement and his arms remained crossed. 

The room went tensely quiet.

It appeared to her that he was having trouble deciding something with himself.

Finally, the man uncrossed his arms, shrugging his shoulders as if he’d been sitting in his seat for ages, “Alright, Ms. Latimer. Seeing as you have such close proximity to Highmore, I will be seeing you again.” 

He stood up from his seat, dusting off his suit pants before grabbing his suit jacket, “You and my girl, Norae, will get the details of our plan next week on Friday. There’s no backing out now. If you try to leave, you will be hunted down, understand?” His deep voice left no room for argument.

What he was saying was final.

Isobel gulped, making an effort to straighten in her seat and put on a brave face, “Of course.”

* * *

The first week of lessons came even quicker than Vesta thought.

She stepped up to the cozy-looking home once again, ringing the doorbell as she adjusted the bag strapped over her shoulder.

Toriel happily invited the mage into her home with that gentle smile, telling her about how Frisk hadn’t stopped talking about wanting to learn more magic. It was apparently all they would talk about, no matter what the subject of the conversation was before.

“Well, I’m glad that they’ve already got passion when it comes to magic.” Vesta chuckled.

Once Frisk was done with whatever homework they had, Vesta directed them both to the backyard picnic table, where they’d be free of distractions.

Vesta set her black bag down on the table, Frisk eyeing it before giving their attention back to their new teacher.

“Ok, Frisk, today, I just want to see how much you can do with a basic series of tests. Then we’ll work on magic output. Ready for your first test?” She leaned forward with raised eyebrows.

Frisk didn’t miss a beat, nodding with such vigor that Vesta was surprised they weren’t dizzy afterwards.

“Alrighty, the first test is simple.” She started, lifting a finger knowingly, “Make your insignia glow.”

That one should be an easy one.

Frisk lifted their hand, back of hand out, and made the insignia glow with no problem.

Vesta made a small noise, blonde kinks bouncing with her nodding as she adjusted the straps of her loose overalls.

Just as she’d thought.

Alright, so far, so good.

Frisk could, of course, do the most basic of magic use. That much she was expecting as most new mages could do that.

They went through the motions, Frisk passing every small test that she gave them and Vesta being both impressed and happy that she wouldn’t have to teach them any of the boring stuff.

Now to learn just how much Frisk could really do.

“Did you use your magic while you were underground, Frisk?” She already knew the answer, but she needed to make sure.

She received a nod and continued, setting up her phone to record the conversation for later use.

“What exactly can you do with your time magic so far?” Her golden eyes beamed with great curiosity, “Anything cool?” _Please be something cool_ , she begged to herself.

“Well…” 

Frisk went on to explain that while they were underground, they’d learned how to create ‘save points’. That way, if they messed up on something, they could go back to the ‘save point’ and start over from that point.

“Like a video game.” Vesta mused, tapping her chin in a rhythmic matter. “For now, we’re going to stay clear of using those ‘save points’.”

When asked if they could do anything else, Frisk only shrugged, not entirely sure themselves.

Humming to herself, the golden-eyed mage considered what the small child could practice on. She knew she couldn’t make them make more of those ‘save points’. That sounded too dangerous, especially to those around them. Plus, there didn’t really seem to be a point in Frisk using that skill anymore.

And now that she was thinking about it, how would she be able to help Frisk with something that she wouldn’t be able to remember about?

Her eyes casted towards the ground, she kicked at a stray rock on the stoned porch and watched it roll into the grass with a soft stop. 

She picked up the pebble, rubbing the smooth, grey surface as she thought about all her past studies of time magic.

_That’s it!_

If her memory served her right, then Frisk should be able to use motion magic since it was related to time magic. And since motion magic was a little more common than time magic, Frisk would probably be able to use that magic type more easily.

Frisk watched their teacher nod to herself in silence.

They made eye contact with each other, her golden eyes sparkling with a new fire.

“Since time magic is a bit too hard to grasp right now, I’m going to help you learn motion magic.”

Frisk’s eyebrows furrowed, “But… my magic type is time?”

“I know that, silly, but you can learn motion magic too.”

Frisk’s facial expression didn’t change and Vesta let out an amused laugh.

She sat Frisk down at the table again, giving them a quick lecture about magic overall.

“Listen, Frisk, magic energy permeates throughout the universe and at some point, a certain race of humans evolved to be able to channel that magic through their ‘cores’. These ‘cores’ basically only manifest the magic in certain ways depending on the magic user, simply put.” She explained.

“What’s that got to do with my time magic though?” The small child asked.

“Basically, your ‘core’ isn’t chained to one type of magic. Since you can use time magic, that also means that your ‘core’ is open to using related magic types as well.”

You could practically see the gears turning in Frisk’s head as their mouth gaped open after a minute of silence. “Oooooh!”

Vesta nodded at her student’s realization, “Yeaaah, you get what I’m saying! For now, time magic can be put aside until I can figure something out. Motion magic should be easy for you to get down anyways.”

Pumping their fist in the air, Frisk bounced expectantly at Vesta, “Let’s start now!”

A hand stopped them and Frisk frowned, their displeasure only growing when Vesta chuckled at them.

“Hold on there-” Vesta put a gentle hand on their shoulder, “I know you want to learn your magic type, but there are certain things that you have to learn first before we get to the nitty gritty, fun part, alright?” Her head was tilted to the side, her smile slanted with understanding as Frisk’s head drooped in defeat.

Vesta patted their shoulder reassuringly with a long sigh, “Yeah, I understand the feeling.”

She strolled over to her bag and pulled out a clear crystal ball.

When she had Frisk seated on the grass in front of the ball, she finally explained.

“Before I can teach you motion magic, you have to learn how to balance your output of magic. Are you ready?” 

“Yes.”

Vesta placed herself behind Frisk, another crystal ball in her hands, “First, I want you to make that crystal ball glow by focusing your magic into its center. If you can make it glow steadily for more than 1 minute, we’ll move up in difficulty as the weeks go by.”

Frisk faltered for a moment, placing their hand outwards to the crystal ball and trying to focus.

A small red light appeared in the center, no bigger than a quarter.

“I want it to shine, not twinkle.” Vesta reminded sternly, her voice toned down so as to not disturb the child.

Frisk let out a small frustrated noise, their body tensing as they attempted to make the light glow brighter.

Just as Frisk believed they were on a roll, the ball glowed brighter than ever without warning, vibrating against the ground dangerously. 

Its smooth surface was beginning to crack everywhere.

Before Frisk could do anything to try and regain control, the ball exploded.

Frisk flinched, eyes squeezing shut and their arms shooting up to protect their face.

When nothing happened, Frisk let their arms down, looking over themselves for injuries and finding none strangely.

They looked back up and realized there was a strange, illuminating haze surrounding themselves and Vesta.

A barrier?

“You alright, Frisk?” Vesta’s pleasant voice spooked them out of their confusion and they looked over their shoulder to glance up at the mage with a sheepish shrug, the embarrassment of their failure getting to them.

“Good thing I put up that barrier, huh?”

Oh, so they were right.

Frisk didn’t answer, shrugging their shoulders again.

Vesta rolled her shoulders, arms on her hips as she scanned the small area decorated with various-sized pieces of glass.

“Well, you made it shine.” She said, like it was a good thing, but Frisk didn’t seem to think the same, giving their teacher an unimpressed look.

Vesta went to pick up the large shards of thick glass and throw them into the trash, as if this was a normal, everyday occurrence to her.

“Don’t get so down, Frisk. What just happened is totally normal.”

That seemed to make Frisk feel a little bit better.

They lifted their head up, “It is?”

“Yeah, and it’s especially normal for someone with a high Stage like you.”

Vesta would know that best, she remembered making so many crystal balls explode at home. She even remembered how her mother would ‘forget’ to put up a barrier to protect her from flying shards, making the excuse that this would help Vesta ‘ _get her magic output under control and help her get stronger faster in the end_ ’.

Vesta remembered believing her mother when she told her that.

She also remembered the sharp pain of glass stabbing into her forearms and how her mom didn’t take her to get treatment until she was able to make the ball glow without exploding; _two hours later._

“Ms. Highmore?”

Vesta blinked, pulled away from her thoughts. She only then noticed that she’d been rubbing her arms, where the glass had been.

Suddenly angry at herself, Vesta snapped her hands to her sides.

_What the hell is up with you? Why’re you letting everything get to you?_

“I’m fine, Frisk. Just caught up in some memories.”

“Bad memories?” They asked, but it sounded like they already knew the answer.

She found herself gazing into Frisk’s knowing red eyes and nodded.

“Yeah, I have those too, sometimes.” They eyed their unsuspecting teacher with a small smirk, “My mom says that those are just a part of life.”

A small chuckle left her as she kept her gaze forward, staring at nothing in particular.

It was funny, to her, how this child seemed to genuinely understand.

Then again, it’s not like she was aware of what Frisk had gone through in the Underground. Hell, she wasn’t even sure how long they were down there before the barrier got broken.

Vesta couldn’t even remember if any child had been broadcast as missing on TV or online. Had no one noticed that Frisk had gone missing? Or was their disappearance kept on the down-low? She guessed that the latter was the answer.

With a deep sigh, Vesta went over to her phone and checked the time, “Alright, that’s where we’ll stop today. We’ll try again tomorrow when you get home from school."

* * *

Once she was done sending out the emails that morning, Vesta stretched across her office chair with a deep sigh, hands above her head.

“Finally done!” She told herself.

Seeing as the amendment proclamation was serious, she notified in the emails that a mandatory meeting would be held next Wednesday, that way everyone would have enough time to come to their own conclusion and have whatever information they needed at the meeting if they had anything to say. 

Just as Vesta stood up to leave, her phone began to vibrate in her hand.

She glanced at the screen, reading ‘Unknown number’. 

Now usually, Vesta didn’t answer to unknown numbers, but she found herself clicking the green answer button anyways, putting the phone on speaker as she strolled out of the office and into her kitchen.

“Hello?”

“look, lady, before i ask you anything, just say no.” Sans gruff voice came through, obviously annoyed.

“What’s the question?”

She heard Sans give out a long sigh, “pap wanted me to tell you that we’re going to the mall with two other friends of ours... would you like to come?” His voice sounded extra strained, as if it hurt him to ask such a thing to her.

Just to fuck with Sans for his unneeded interrogation that fated day, Vesta agreed, “I’d love to come, Sans. Thank you for being so kind as to ask me for your brother. I appreciate the kindness, I didn’t even know you were capable.”

“you’re definitely not helping me change my opinion of you-”

“Neither are you, to tell the _tooth_.”

The line went eerily silent before a choked laugh came from the phone, “you didn’t.”

“I did, don’t think I didn’t pick up those puns when you were threatening me.” She smiled at the phone, finding the situation funny. She didn't love puns, but she did like them, even if they were 'A-Class Dad Joke' cringe material . “But, yeah, I’ll be there, what time?”

“ _to-marrow_ at 12, don’t be late.” There was a slight threat in that sentence and Vesta scoffed, not surprised that Sans would of course show some of his asshole-ness to her.

“Uh-huh, and don’t forget your manners... _Asshole_.” She quickly finished, hanging up.

Hopefully the skeleton wouldn’t try anything tomorrow. 

If he did, Vesta would be sure to be two steps ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anything is confusing, please ask me questions, that way I can explain or even re-edit the chapter to make things more easily understandable!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please leave kudos and/or comments to let me know you're enjoying the story. Stay safe during these trying times!


	6. Quick Announcement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick announcement!

I'm taking a small hiatus on this story so I can get inspiration back. I also need to focus on college and get caught up on my work. Once I'm done with that and have about 3 more chapters done, I'll be back!

I'm guessing that I'll be back by October 10th, maybe earlier.

Also, if you guys don't mind, you can give suggestions for future chapters!

Bye for now! Stay safe during these trying these times!


	7. Announcement #2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another announcement!

Ok, I really need to catch up on college work and I want to be completely done so that I won't distract myself! I will be back after October 14th! And while you're here, please give me constructive criticism as this is my first serious writing and I'd like to better myself!


	8. S(he) Got Dunked On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans surprises Vesta, Frisk's magic lessons continue, and Vesta gets invited to a birthday party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm back! My mental health took a slight dive these past few weeks and I lost inspiration to write the story, but I'm slowly starting to get back on my feet! Also, this chapter is a little dry but I can't think of what else to add to it, so I'm sorry!

**Chapter 6: S(he) Got Dunked on**

Vesta has been on the receiving side of plenty of surprises in her 22 years of life, some being good, others being bad.

But this…

She really wasn’t expecting this.

“i’m surprised that you actually believed me, lady,” Sans stated, hands in his pocket, “i assumed you were fuckin’ with me.”

They stood in awkward silence as Vesta nodded owlishly, golden eyes wide and shifting, “Yeah, yup, I knew you weren’t being serious… I just came to see because I was interested…” Her eyes went everywhere except for the smiling skeleton, lips pursed.

In hindsight, she probably should’ve expected this.

The two of them hadn’t had a good initial meeting, after all.

And Sans did seem like the type to go above and beyond for his brother, even if he did appear outwardly lazy.

Memories of yesterday’s phone call flooded her mind and Vesta could only cringe as she remembered how the call ended.

‘ _Asshole._ ’ The word echoed through her mind and Vesta just knew that Sans would probably say something and/or use that against her.

Her and her big mouth.

It was funny how she was so poised at times, but could turn right back around and cuss someone out for disrespecting her.

Sans obviously wasn’t buying her bluff, snorting at her sorry attempt, “real smooth, lady, real smooth.” He shook his head to himself, white pricks staring her down for a moment.

They found themselves seated on a bench outside the mall’s entrance.

 _Oh lord, what’s he gonna do this time?_ She wondered, knowing that skeleton wanted to say something.

He let out a long sigh and quickly averted his gaze, “sorry for attacking you when we met-”

“Did Papyrus put you up to this?” Vesta questioned immediately, golden eyes squinted suspiciously.

If Sans was going to apologize to her, she wanted it to be genuine, not forced.

Sans mouth quirked slightly as he frowned, “no, he didn’t.” He looked slightly offended by her assumption, like what she said didn’t make any sense.

“Ok, continue. Sorry for interrupting.”

The skeleton sighed again, “i felt that i was justified in trying to look at your soul… but when i thought about how angry you looked afterwards when i got home, i realized that i was out of line and didn’t have any right to judge you when _you_ invited _me_ into your home.”

He scratched at the back of his skull, gaze back at Vesta, “and i don’t have a right to judge you because you’re not my friend, you’re _papyrus’_ friend… it wasn’t my place… and for that, i’m sorry.”

It stayed tensely silent for a moment too long and Sans cautiously gazed up at the mage.

Head tilted and lips pressed, she had a brown hand holding her chin, a hard look stuck on her face that caused slight wrinkles to form at the sides of her eyes, 

She stared wisely at Sans as he kept eye contact, too nervous to look away.

If Sans was being honest right now, he didn’t like the look she was giving him. He really hoped that she would forgive him, because she had no idea how hard it was for him to swallow his pride and admit that what he did was wrong.

It probably wouldn’t be that simple though, Vesta didn’t seem like the type to forgive easily.

Finally, a soft smile blessed her features and she splayed the hand holding her chin out to the side with a careless shrug, “I appreciate the apology, I don’t forgive you, but thank you!”

Sans tilted his head, “huh?”

“I’m acknowledging that you apologized, but I don’t forgive you for attacking me.” Vesta explained simply before shaking her head, “I mean ‘for trying to look into my soul’.” She corrected herself.

“oh… ok, cool.” Of course she wasn’t going to just forgive him just like that. He said it himself, he went too far.

They sat in another moment of awkward silence and Sans watched as the curly-haired mage sighed where she sat.

"Look... I get you being protective of Papyrus... He's your baby brother and you have a right to worry about him." Her voice was incredibly soft, so gentle that it surprised Sans as he listened on. "Having a younger sibling does that to you, especially when you love them so much." There was so much pained longing in her voice as she gazed into Sans' white pricks.

It didn't take long for Sans to figure it out, "you... you have a younger sibling?" He asked carefully.

"Had-" Her smile was brittle now as she looked straight ahead, no longer wanting to look into the shorter skeleton's eyes, "I had a brother... but that's not really important right now. I was just trying to let you know that I understand where you're coming from. I do think you should put more trust into Papyrus though, he's not as naive as he seems." 

"yeah... sometimes i forget that."

That sat in more uncomfortable silence before Sans noticed Vesta's face slowly morphing into a frown.

She slowly turned her head as Sans did the same and blinked, “You were looking into my _soul_?”

Sans blinked back, “... well… i tried.”

Another blink, “Sans… _what the fuck_.” Her voice was so unbelievably dry that Sans would have laughed in a different setting.

“i know, i’m horrib-”

“Horrible, yes, but that’s not what I’m talking about-” She turned her upper body towards the skeleton now, hands in her lap, “Monsters can look into people’s souls? Like _Jesus_?”

Sans gave a sideways nod, “in a way, yeah. i was trying to see who you were… but that’s kind of an invasion of privacy.”

Vesta hummed, leaning forward, “Are there different kinds of souls or something? Can you tell good souls from bad ones?”

“look, lad-vesta, i only called you here so that i could apologize. not so that i could educate you on the mysterious ways of monster magic, you have papyrus for that. now if you’ll excuse me-” He got off the bench, hands back in his pockets, “-i gotta get back to my job before they notice i'm gone."

He began to walk off before halting, “this doesn’t mean that we’re friends, by the way. i still don’t like you and i definitely don’t trust you 100%. i just wanted to apologize for how i acted.”

Vesta nodded understandingly, “The feeling is mutual.”

Without another word, the skeleton was gone and Vesta was left alone, gazing up at the sky with a small smile.

How unexpected, indeed.

* * *

“You almost made it to a minute, but you made it burst again.” Vesta mused, throwing the shards away and dusting off her hands, “You have a habit of putting out too much magic.”

“Is that bad?” Frisk frowned, watching Vesta put another crystal ball out in front of them.

“For motion magic specifically, yes. With some types of magic, putting out too much magic energy can be dangerous.”

An especially true statement. 

Vesta could remember a time during her school years when one of her classmates put out too much magic and scorched both their own and three other targets beside them, almost burning two other students.

“Lots of magic types are sensitive to magic output. Like my magic type for instance, barrier magic, if I put out too little magic when making a barrier, what do you think will happen?” She asked.

“It’ll be too weak.”

“Exactly, if you use too much magic for motion magic, you can make objects move too fast and lose control-” She lifted a finger knowingly, “You’ll also tire yourself out if you keep using your magic like that. It happened to me a few times as a child when-” Vesta cut herself off, eyes staring off into the distance for a moment.

She brought her gaze back to Frisk and shook her head, as if shaking her thoughts away, “Anyways, you get the point. As soon as I feel that you can control your magic energy safely, we’ll start teaching you motion magic.”

Frisk gave a short nod, before sticking their hands back out towards the new crystal ball.

Soon enough, they’d be able to learn motion magic and become a real mage.

They were filled with determination.

* * *

About 2 hours later, Vesta called it a day on Frisk’s training.

So far, Frisk was able to keep a crystal ball glowing steadily for more than 3 minutes without making it explode. Which Vesta believed to be a good ending point for the day. She also didn’t want to tire the kid out either.

She wasn’t cold-blooded like her mother and tutors.

Once Vesta made sure that the yard was clean, she found herself staring confusedly at Asgore and Toriel, who were smiling expectantly at her.

“Is there something good happening?” She asked, smiling back.

Toriel glanced behind her shoulder with a soft look, “Frisk, would you like to give it to her?”

Vesta put a hand on her hip, smiling teasingly when Frisk shuffled from behind their mother and shyly handed her a small, blue envelope, “Why’re you acting all shy now, huh?” She studied the envelope, which had her name written on it and eyed Frisk in faux suspicion, “What is this? Am I getting fired or something?”

Taking Frisk’s unimpressed stare as a no, the mage began to open the envelope, pulling out a dark blue card decorated with balloons and confetti. Golden lettered words sat at the top reading, ‘You’re Invited!’, the rest of the card held information about the time of the party and the location.

Staring at the invitation, Vesta couldn’t help but think back at how many birthday parties she’d missed out on due to her parents' selfishness. 

It only made her realize how horrible her childhood really was.

But… at the same time, she couldn’t believe that Frisk wanted to invite her. She knew that the kid liked her, but she didn’t think that they liked her this much. She was honestly flattered.

A bright smile took over her features, “Oh, Frisk!” She drawled out in delight, covering her smile with her hand, “You know I’ll be there.”

She watched on as Frisk returned the smile and scurried off upstairs, most likely to their room.

“They were really nervous to invite you since you’ve only been their teacher for about two weeks.” Toriel explained quietly, “But you’re sure that you can come, yes?”

“Oh yeess, I can come. I don’t usually work on Saturdays and I don’t think that anything will come up.” She pondered with pursed lips, “But if that’s all, I’ll be on my way. Tell Frisk that there’ll be no lessons on Wednesday, as I will be at an important meeting that day.”

Both parents nodded, bidding the mage a goodbye.

Asgore hummed in thought when he heard Vesta's car leave their driveway, a large paw holding his chin, "Hmmm, we have a meeting on Wednesday too. What a coincidence."  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't mind criticism, if you feel that I did something wrong or need work in a certain area, feel free to tell me!  
> I'll try to have the next chapter out next Friday!  
> Please leave kudos and/or comments and stay safe during these trying times! Have a good day!


	9. When You Get in Your Feelings While Firing a Coworker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vesta goes to the amendment draft meeting, someone gets fired, and Vesta meets two new monsters (featuring Vesta's sad feelings)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for uploading this late! I totally forgot about a test I had (which I failed, oop) and got caught up with studying! Here's the chapter though!

“Vesta! Good morning!” Erik walked up to Vesta, bowing his head in greeting.

Vesta bowed back, balancing the papers in her arms and returning his smile as she looked him up and down.

He looked like he was doing better now. He definitely wasn’t as tired as he sounded when she talked to him on the phone. She could tell that his shaved sides were freshly done up too, his line up looking extra fresh, and his long dreads tied up in his usual clean but messy manner.

“Good morning, Erik. I see you got a new cut. Looking good, if I do say so myself.” She complimented, suddenly squinting her eyes suspiciously, “Who you gettin’ all cute for? Hmmm? Yourself?”

Erik gave a haughty chuckle, “Ha. Ha. Very funny, but I’ll have you know that I actually am getting fresh for a special someone…” 

Eyes widened, Vesta leaned in, “Who? Do I know them?”

Of all the years that she had known Erik, Vesta had never seen Erik go on his own date with someone that he was genuinely interested in.

He’d been on countless dates, for sure, but those dates were set up by his parents and other families trying to marry into their founding family. He had always told her that the whole ‘speed dating’ thing that his parents put him through, kind of screwed up his image of love.

Not that she could blame him. If her parents had put her through the same thing, she would’ve thought similarly.

Too bad they gave her a different kind of trauma.

“I’m not telling you. And besides, that’s not important right now. Right now-” He turned her around, pushing her up the black-marbled stairs and towards the main meeting room, “-We have a meeting to conduct. I checked beforehand; everyone that needs to be here, is present.”

Vesta made a noise of acknowledgement and straightened out the outfit she was wearing.

Grey plaid-patterned, cigarette pants with black heels and a white turtleneck to finish off the look. She also made sure that her nose piercing was gone. It was a simple, professional look and most importantly, comfortable.

With a steady deep breath, she and Erik stepped through the double doors.

They were met with a sudden silence as every important figure there stood up and bowed their heads in respectful greeting, though Vesta didn’t miss the rolling eyes and annoyed scoffs as she and Erik bowed back.

Glancing at the familiar and unfamiliar faces, Vesta paused when she caught sight of a small figure seated between two larger ones..

Asgore, Toriel and Frisk.

They were seated at the large round table, sitting next to what looked to be a blue-fish monster and a yellow lizard monster with glasses, smiling when they noticed that Vesta had seen them.

How did she not see them at first?

Hell, how did she forget that Frisk was a monster representative?

Seating herself at the large table, she cleared her throat and began the meeting.

“As you all know from the email I sent out last week, the US government wishes for the Magically Blessed Persons Association to think about adding monster citizens into our society. After reading the amendment draft, I would like for each of you to explain what you think before a decision is made.” 

A middle-aged man stood up, raising his hand, “I believe that adding monsters into our association is a good idea. Monsters use magic, so they count as magically blessed and should be allowed to become guild members.” 

A woman stood up as the man sat down, “I agree, we could also learn about monster magic more easily and vice-versa. Plus, the monsters would get more benefits and job opportunities if added to our association.” There was a hushed series of agreements that rang throughout the room and Vesta nodded understandingly.

“Both excellent points that I, too, agree with. Any complaints?” she asked.

An older woman stood up now, wrinkled lips pulled into a slight scowl, “Monsters aren’t exactly ‘persons’, though. Shouldn’t they create their own association?”

“For what?” Erik asked in faux confusion.

“Are you deaf? I just said that they can’t join because they aren’t human. How could we possibly integrate their system of magic with ours? There’s simply too many differences to be dealt with.” She spat, crossing her arms, “A waste of time if you were to ask me.”

A select few officials glanced at each other, silently agreeing with the older woman.

Vesta immediately glanced at the Dreemur family and the other two monsters seated by them before she could stop herself. They definitely didn’t look happy, their brows creased and mouths quirked downwards. It didn’t seem that they enjoyed what the woman was so boldly claiming in front of them, but who would?

She was saying that because they weren’t human, they couldn’t be allowed into the guild and would cause more trouble than what it was worth.

A murmur ran through the room and Erik raised his hand to silence them, standing up before Vesta could.

“Mrs. Keeling, right? I suggest that you stop with that talk, your ignorance is showing. It doesn’t matter that they aren’t human. ‘Person’ by definition in my books is a sentient  _ being _ regarded as an individual. And I’m appalled that you would talk like that in the presence of our special guests. If you continue with that talk,  _ I _ will have you escorted out. Am I clear?”

The older woman nodded stoically, sitting back down with tight lips.

The mood of the room lightened after that.

Erik then turned to face Asgore and Toriel, “Mr. and Mrs. Dreemur, I apologize for her behavior, do you have any complaints or concerns?”

“No, we don’t. Thank you, Archmage Angelsin.” Toriel voiced, bowing her head. She looked relieved now, as did the others, for being included in the meeting.

Vesta took the lead, gesturing for Erik to take a seat, “Are there any other complaints before we discuss what changes will take place once the amendment is passed?”

Archmage Latimer sat up abruptly, not bothering to raise her hand before she spoke, “Yes, I do-” Vesta felt a sudden tightness in her throat. Whatever Latimer was about to say wasn’t going to be good.

“How do we know that  _ certain _ individuals won’t use monsters for inhumane practices?”

Vesta raised an eyebrow, “Such as?”

The ghost of an arrogant smirk reached Latimer’s slightly wrinkled lips as she hummed in thought, “Mmmmm, I don’t know, Highmore.... Maybe dark magic? You’re quite familiar with that subject, aren’t you?”

Murmurs and whispers erupted throughout the room yet again, knowing eyes shifting to Vesta as she gave a hard glare to the smirking woman.

“Why is that a concern of yours, Archmage Latimer?”

The blonde mage shrugged innocently, “It’s just… we all know that studying dark magic is  _ strictly _ forbidden… but we also know that there are  _ some _ people that don’t listen to the rules. How can we trust those people and know that they won’t repeat such horrible actions?”

“And use their family’s money and power to cover it up?” A man’s voice added slyly, Vesta didn’t bother to see who. She was too angry to care.

She did however, catch a glance at Frisk and felt her heart crack at the conflicted look on their face, their parents’ faces mirroring the child’s as they were swarmed with hushed whispers that only spoke negatively of Vesta.

It couldn’t be ignored now.

The judgemental stares were too strong now.

The chuckles and gossip were far too loud.

And the audacity to pretend that they were all so fucking perfect was too much.

Swarming the magic into her hand, Vesta raised her hand, a glowing white saber of light appearing in her palm. The light broke away from the saber, revealing a dark silver staff with a beautiful blue crystal sitting snugly on the end of the staff.

A collective gasp sounded as Vesta slammed the staff on the ground, lifting her gaze to Latimer’s shocked one.

“I have remained corrigible with you for the past 3 years and I have given you countless chances to do the same, yet you take advantage of my kindness every time. I really don’t appreciate the badmouthing that you’ve decided to take part in during this very important meeting in front of these special members of the monster community.” 

She glanced back over to the monsters and back at Latimer, “Such behavior gives our establishment an unprofessional and judgemental-looking environment to those that are new. And that is not what the Magically Blessed Persons Association stands for.”

She stopped to take a deep breath.

There was no stopping now. The attention was dead set on her. Backing out now would make her look weak.

“You have repeatedly bypassed the chain of command, leaving Erik to work alone on my days off without telling me and have always been disrespectful towards me, your  _ superior _ .”

Latimer’s eyes widened apprehensively, “What-What are you trying to say, Highmore?”

“I hate to do this in such an unprofessional manner in front of others, but I don’t think that I can handle anymore of your attitude for the rest of the meeting, so-” 

Her golden gaze went cold and she gripped her staff tighter to stay grounded with what she was about to do.

“You’re fired. You have until next Wednesday to get your office cleaned out and to give your office keycard back. If the room is not cleaned out, all your belongings will either be thrown away or up for grabs to others in the guild. If the keycard is not given back, you will be fined in order to pay for the next keycard.”

Latimer was shaking now, her breathing heavy and filled with rage, “You can’t be serious?! I actually worked hard for this position and you just throw me away?! You can’t just fire me for hurting your feelings!” When Vesta gave no acknowledgement to her words, she turned to Erik, “Archmage Angelsin, you can’t possibly be ok with this!”

Erik only shrugged, “Unfortunately, I can’t and won’t do anything, Mrs. Latimer. Archmage Highmore can fire you for repeated disrespectful attitude and bypassing the chain of command.”

Latimer shook her head, disbelieving what was happening to her in front of other Archmages and officials. 

She swiftly gathered her papers from the table and barged out of the room with an angry mutter, “You’re not gonna be here for long anyways. I’ll make sure of that.” The large double doors slammed shut behind her and the room was met with silence.

Vesta couldn’t help but feel awful for firing Latimer and embarrassing her, but she could only give someone so many chances before she snapped. And Latimer just so happened to make Vesta snap at this amendment meeting.

It also didn’t help that Vesta knew that this wouldn’t change anyone’s opinion of her.

But it's not like they ever would.

She couldn’t change her past and she couldn’t stop the gossip from going around no matter how good she did.

So, in that moment, Vesta decided, as she fired Latimer, that she would only do good for herself and those she cared for.

Paris.

Erik.

Aunt Starla and Uncle Xavier.

Papyrus.

And Frisk.

Fuck everybody else that immediately judged her for her imperfect past and not for her triumphant present.

A hand pressed against her shoulder, forcing Vesta back to the real world.

The room, she now realized, was frighteningly quiet and Vesta cringed inwardly at the dozens of eyes that stared back at her with a range of emotions.

Silently thanking Erik, her staff disappeared with a flash of light and Vesta clasped her hands together with a polished smile that failed to reach her eyes, “Now, let’s continue.”

* * *

The meeting went by as smoothly as it could’ve gone in Vesta’s mind, ignoring the part where she fired Latimer.

Everyone had left once the meeting had ended. 

Vesta stayed seated, leaned over the table with her face in her hands.

Erik’s hand rested on her back, rubbing in small circles, “You ok?” He asked carefully.

“Not really.” Came his friend’s muffled reply.

“Well, sitting here and moping isn’t going to fix anything.”

“I know…”

She slowly rose from her seat with a tired sigh, stretching out her back, “Looks like I’m gonna be stuck at work looking for a new Archmage instead of trying to work on a new research project.” She joked with a small smile.

Erik made a sound of concurrence, “Yeah, but with my help, you’ll find another Archmage in no time. It won’t take that long!”

“You know what, Erik… You’re right.” Vesta agreed, the heavy tiredness lifting off of her body as she straightened her posture, “There’s plenty of people waiting to be the next Archmage. I don’t know what I was so down about.”

Erik went quiet for a moment, staring at Vesta with those gentle, brown eyes of his, “So… are you free this Saturday from 5-8?”

Pausing to think, Vesta nodded, “Yeah, I am. Why?”

Erik fidgeted ever so slightly and shrugged, “I just wanted to get a headstart with you on finding another Archmage. You down?”

Running a hand through her tight blond coils, she gave her friend an assured nod once she thought it through.

“I’m down.” 

After that conversation, Vesta didn’t bother stopping at her office like she’d originally planned. 

Walking past her vacant office, a new voice assaulted her ears.

“Hey! Pretty Boss Lady, wait up!”

“U-Undyne!” Another voice stuttered, “Y-Y-You ca-can’t just a-address her li-like that! Sh-She’s the Head A-Archmage!”

Turning around, Vesta found herself looking up at the yellow-eyed fish woman from the meeting. She was smiling down at Vesta with sharp, yellow tinted teeth, arms crossed over her chest as she looked the shorter mage over.

The first thing that Vesta noticed was how tall she was and her tough demeanor. The fish woman had to be just a few inches taller than Papyrus, who was about 6’3. This monster looked to be well over 6’5, if Vesta were to guess.

Her scaly skin was dark aqua blue in color, there was eyepatch over her left eye and her red hair was up in a tight, professional ponytail to match with the black suit she was wearing.

The yellow, lizard monster trembling nervously beside her was about the same height as Vesta. She was keeping her hands so close together and appeared to be crouching in on herself, letting anyone with eyes know that she was a nervous-natured person. 

She was wearing a pair of cat-eye glasses and a blue turtleneck underneath what looked to be a professional-looking lab coat. 

And she didn’t appear to be too happy about the fish woman calling for her in such a way, `trembling even more now, as if waiting for Vesta to yell at them for disrespecting her in such a way.

But if Vesta were to be honest, she didn’t really mind. Had it been someone that definitely knew her but wasn’t friends with her, she would’ve corrected them and went on about her way.

“Yes?” Vesta answered.

“I jus’ wanted to say, that was quite tha show of badassery in there! I can tell ya got quite the spark in ya! I ‘preciate that in a leader!”

_ She thinks that was badassery?  _ Vesta almost couldn’t believe she was being praised for what she’d done.

Vesta grimaced at the moment, “Really? I felt unprofessional.”

The fish woman guffawed, “Yer too harsh on yerself! That old witch was tha one who was bein’ unprofessional wit all those questions!”

“Y-Yeah, she a-appeared to be t-ta-targeting you. Y-You did th-the right thing.” The lizard lady stuttered out with a shy smile, hands fidgeting.

Vesta gave a slanted nod, taking in their words.

Yeah, she’s quite sure that everyone in the room could tell that Latimer was talking about her. That wasn’t anything new.

Vesta was one of the most gossiped people in Ebott when it came to the mage community. Something that she hated from the very start of becoming an Archmage.

Sure, she was respected for being Head Archmage, but Vesta knew that hidden behind that respect was pity and/or antipathy. 

Everyone knew about the rumor with Vesta that was related to dark magic, but no one, save for one of her higher-ups, a select few close family members and Erik, knew the full truth of what happened in the past.

And sure, Vesta could go and explain the full truth, but she doubted that everyone would believe her and it wasn’t anyone’s business at the end of the day.

She went through too much pain and didn’t wish to relive it just so people could use the truth against her too.

“Anyways, tha name’s Undyne.” Undyne then gestured to the lizard lady, “This here’s my girlfriend, Alphys.”

“H-Hello.”

Vesta bowed her head, “Vesta Highmore.”

“Oh, yeah. Toriel mentioned you to us before the meeting started. Didn’t realize Frisk had such a pretty teacher.” She wiggled her eyebrows seductively with a pur, eyes slowly tracing Vesta’s body jokingly.

_ Oh yeah, Frisk.  _ Vesta remembered, biting her lip.

“Did… they say anything before they left? The Dreemurs?” 

“About you?” Undyne asked knowingly, earning a hushed scold from Alphys, “No, they didn’t. They did look a little conflicted.”

Vesta's eyes stared at the ground expressionlessly as she shook her head, “It was nice meeting you two, Alphys, Undyne, but I need to go home now.” She looked back up at them, “Have a good day and have a safe trip home.”

Vesta left without another word, disappearing down the main stairs as the monster couple silently watched her.

Undyne crossed her arms with a hard frown, “Poor thing… I wonder what she did that made everyone so judgy? I mean… she didn’t seem horrible at all. And Papyrus never shuts up about her…”

Alphys could only shrug, her eyes hold deep understanding as she continued to look where Vesta had left, “I do-don’t know… I don’t know…”

* * *

“What do you mean you ‘got fired’?” The masked figure asked, disappointment leaking from his voice. 

Latimer merely shrugged as she attempted to play poised, “Highmore just got her feelings hur-”

“I’m beginning to rethink my recruitment of you,  _ Latimer _ .” The man spat, “I feel that you’re too impulsive with your actions when it comes to Highmore.”

Isobel shrunk back involuntarily at the masked man’s words.

“You best be thankful that I had a Plan B just in case you got fired or something else similar happened. Now-” He rose from his seat, pulling out a small, glass containment cell.

Inside, jolting around demonically, was a shapeless shadowy figure banging itself against the glass. The shadow began to writhe more, letting out a spine-chilling shriek that was muffled from the glass as it began to try and get to the trembling mage by banging itself against the glass with frightening force.

A  _ wraith _ .

Shadow creatures that were the physical embodiment of dark magic and sucked the energy out of any and all sentient beings.

A creature that was feared by everyone even after 400 years.

The man smiled behind his mask as he gestured to the containment cell, “-If you fail this next task, my boss has given me permission to use you as  _ I _ see fit. I advise that you not mess up this time, Latimer, understand?”

Isobel pulled her eyes away from the wraith, nodding reluctantly, “Yes, Anon. I-I understand completely. I won’t fail this time.”

Anon, the masked man, hummed in answer, placing the containment cell back under his desk, “Now that we’re at an agreement, I’ll explain to you the details of Plan B.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anything seems confusing, please tell me! 
> 
> Also, I've made small changes throughout most of the past chapters to help the story flow a little better!
> 
> Constructive criticism is appreciated!
> 
> And please feel free to leave kudos and/or comments to let me know you're enjoying the story! Have a good day and stay safe during these trying times!


	10. Rewrite Announcement

Ok, I know that this is annoying and I suck ass at posting consistently, but I have some news. I've been attempting to write the future chapters of Impasse and I've decided that I'm not happy with how I wrote this story.

I feel that I can write this story better, so I will. I'm going to keep this one up for now, but once I rewrite this one, I'll delete it. Unless you guys don't want me to, then just say so and I'll happily oblige.

I don't know how long its going to take me and I understand that this is frustrating, but I can't keep writing the story as it is now.

**Here's what I've got planned for the story (world-building wise) so far:**

  * All original characters will still exist in the rewrite.
  * At the beginning of the story rewrite, monsters have been on the surface for about 6 months, have been passed as legal citizens and are just now getting invited into the mage community.
  * The mage community is now called _The Founding Order of Magically Blessed Persons,_ which will have maybe 3-5 branches. (So far, there is a Administrative and Research Branch)
  * Wraiths still exist, but they'll be more prevalent in the rewrite.
  * There are still 3 Founding Families. They will be the Highmore, Angelsin, and Roseberg 
  * The Research Branch will be doing research on the different types of monsters, which is the project that Vesta and Erik will be co-leading.
  * Monsters and mages still don't have the best relationship, as many monsters still have generational trauma from the War of Humans and Monsters.



**Character wise:**

  * Vesta's past will still remain a mystery, including her parents and what happened to her.
  * Vesta and Erik will have a romance story on the side.
  * Vesta is still from one of the founding families, as is Erik.
  * Latimer and Vesta still don't like each other. And yes, Latimer's dislike stems from jealousy and an irrational sense of unfairness.
  * Latimer, Erik, and Vesta are not High Archmages in the rewrite. I feel that the position is too high and I didn't go in depth enough with it. The trio will now be some of the few Head Researchers in the Research Branch.
  * There will be a more instances with Latimer and the mysterious group that she keeps visiting.
  * Vesta will not have Barrier Magic anymore. To help with the story and make it make more sense, she will have Omni-Magic (I promise that she won't be over-powered and this will have an important element in the story.) Erik will have Fire Magic and Latimer will have Gravity Magic.
  * Vesta won't be a teacher to Frisk, but they will meet and have a friendship.
  * Sans and Vesta won't like each other at the beginning due to Vesta being a mage and Sans deeming her untrustworthy.



**Miscellaneous** **:**

  * I think that instead of Vesta meeting Papyrus first, she'll meet Alphys first.
  * Vesta still makes a good amount of money.
  * Vesta is still judged by others in the community based on misinformed rumors.
  * Only Paris, Erik, and Vesta's uncle and aunt know what really happened, as well as a select few Administrative officials.



That's all I've got so far. I'll be rewriting the story over Thanksgiving and Christmas Break! Everyone please be safe and I'm very sorry for this! But I hope that you'll stick around for the rewrite!

Also, if anyone wants to give ideas, go right on ahead!

Until next time!


End file.
